BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many young people (a) started and (b) completed apprenticeships in (i) York central constituency, (ii) York local education authority, (iii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iv) England in each year since 1995-96.

Matthew Hancock: Information on the number of apprenticeship starts and achievements by geography and age are published in Supplementary Tables to a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR).
	Final data are available back to 2003-04, the earliest year for which geographical data are available:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/Statistics/fe_data_library/Apprenticeships/
	http://thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_archive/march2010supplementarydata.htm

Business: Interest Rate Swap Transactions

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the number of businesses offered redress as part of their redress scheme for businesses mis-sold interest rate hedging products; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Government want the Financial Conduct Authority's review process to be concluded as quickly and as fairly as possible, and the Department continues to engage with the Financial Conduct Authority on this issue, including at ministerial level.

Copyright

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union, in the case VG Wort v Kyocera on 27 June 2013, on his proposal for an exception to copyright for private copying that allows for appropriate compensation to be paid at the point of sale.

Jo Swinson: The Government are currently inviting comment on our draft regulations for changes to copyright exceptions. Written comments on the draft regulations for Private Copying, Parody, Quotation, and Public Administration should be submitted by 17 July either in writing to the IPO or emailed to
	Copyrightconsultation@ipo.gov.uk
	Written comments on the draft regulations for Data Analysis for Non-Commercial Research, Education, and Research, Libraries and Archives should be submitted by 2 August.
	Part of this technical review process will involve ensuring compliance with all relevant legal obligations, including ECJ case law. The Government have been following closely the case of Wort and are examining the judgment. It would welcome any views on this specific issue from those who plan to participate in the technical review.

EU Internal Trade

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of jobs in each NUTS 1 region which are dependent on trade with the European Union.

Michael Fallon: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not made an estimate of the number of jobs in each NUTS 1 region dependent on trade with the European Union.

EU Internal Trade

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in (a) total and (b) each NUTS 1 region conducted trade in (i) services and (ii) goods with other EU countries in the last 12 months.

Michael Fallon: Data on the number of businesses in the UK conducting trade in services with other EU countries are not available.
	Data on the number of businesses in the UK (and in each NUTS 1 region) conducting trade in goods with other EU countries are available from the HMRC Regional Trade Statistics. Data for each year and quarter (up to Q1 2013) are published at:
	www.uktradeinfo.com

Foreign Investment in UK

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of jobs which have been created or safeguarded by foreign direct investment from other EU countries in (a) total and (b) each NUTS 1 region in each year since 2003.

Michael Fallon: The following table shows figures recorded by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) of total jobs created and safeguarded by foreign direct investment originating in the European Union since 2003. The figures are further broken down by the 12 NUTS 1 regions.
	
		
			 UKTI recorded jobs new and safeguarded by FDI from EU countries 2003/04 to 2011/12 
			  Region Number of new jobs Number of safeguarded jobs 
			 2003/04 East of England 71 85 
			  East Midlands 462 90 
			  London 244 40 
			  North East 685 1,521 
		
	
	
		
			  North West 1,470 3,931 
			  South East 625 589 
			  South West 570 586 
			  West Midlands 971 3,175 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 413 194 
			  Scotland 666 534 
			  Wales 1,675 1,335 
			  Northern Ireland 376 518 
			  Total 8,228 12,598 
			     
			 2004/05 East of England 516 1,023 
			  East Midlands 463 27 
			  London 728 140 
			  North East 171 95 
			  North West 2,995 1,072 
			  South East 2,372 4,695 
			  South West 372 1,152 
			  West Midlands 729 448 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 1,631 222 
			  Scotland 418 53 
			  Wales 1,037 225 
			  Northern Ireland 663 2,603 
			  Total 12,095 11,755 
			     
			 2005/06 East of England 478 257 
			  East Midlands 484 1,437 
			  London 478 915 
			  North East 1,088 231 
			  North West 507 560 
			  South East 1,012 53 
			  South West 586 1,338 
			  West Midlands 1,416 3,192 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 880 896 
			  Scotland 290 328 
			  Wales 1,419 575 
			  Northern Ireland 154 299 
			  Total 8,792 10,081 
			     
			 2006/07 East of England 243 851 
			  East Midlands 982 1,120 
			  London 560 0 
			  North East 558 1,247 
			  North West 1,132 594 
			  South East 629 1,053 
			  South West 974 2,646 
			  West Midlands 1,040 2,149 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 1,220 227 
			  Scotland 782 1,672 
			  Wales 490 372 
		
	
	
		
			  Northern Ireland 1,435 428 
			  Total 10,045 12,359 
			     
			 2007/08 East of England 782 2,711 
			  East Midlands 662 2,069 
			  London 1,185 437 
			  North East 865 500 
			  North West 1,054 2,000 
			  South East 1,818 1,823 
			  South West 230 440 
			  West Midlands 2,258 7,058 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 1,168 921 
			  Scotland 595 581 
			  Wales 1,680 1,260 
			  Northern Ireland 1,989 280 
			  Total 14,286 20,080 
			     
			 2008/09 East of England 341 974 
			  East Midlands 280 385 
			  London 1,531 1,240 
			  North East 889 856 
			  North West 111 2,003 
			  South East 961 1,099 
			  South West 61 1,973 
			  West Midlands 874 620 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 79 1,074 
			  Scotland 426 100 
			  Wales 1,488 67 
			  Northern Ireland 2,764 196 
			  All Regions 12 6,000 
			  Total 9,817 16,587 
			     
			 2009/10 East of England 591 810 
			  East Midlands 847 205 
			  London 2,800 114 
			  North East 557 735 
			  North West 2,242 1,331 
			  South East 346 2,522 
			  South West 452 691 
			  West Midlands 846 507 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 729 1,925 
			  Scotland 1,820 863 
			  Wales 1,370 2,142 
			  Northern Ireland 460 42 
			  Total 13,060 11,887 
			     
			 2010/11 East of England 1,002 1,410 
			  East Midlands 1,148 1,596 
			  London 2,355 1,213 
			  North East 118 174 
		
	
	
		
			  North West 1,667 1,756 
			  South East 832 1,738 
			  South West 516 3,117 
			  West Midlands 789 1,494 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 470 399 
			  Scotland 1,331 1,321 
			  Wales 1,044 284 
			  Northern Ireland 749 55 
			  Total 12,021 14,557 
			     
			 2011/12 East of England 822 67 
			  East Midlands 691 30 
			  London 3,075 1,682 
			  North East 1,486 289 
			  North West 5,774 3,315 
			  South East 1,577 573 
			  South West 371 447 
			  West Midlands 1,299 735 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 1,116 1,432 
			  Scotland 960 6,016 
			  Wales 672 302 
			  Northern Ireland 558 0 
			  All Regions 2,715 1,914 
			  Total 21,116 16,802

Industrial Training Boards

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when the triennial review of the Industry Training Boards for Construction, Engineering Construction and Film Industry Training Boards is expected to be completed.

Matthew Hancock: The triennial review of the Industry Training Boards is expected to be completed by the end of March 2014.

Innovation: Urban Areas

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what processes are in place to scrutinise the (a) efficacy, (b) accuracy and (c) value for money of bids for the Future Cities Project under the auspices of the Technology Strategy Board; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Future Cities demonstrator funding competition, managed by the Technology Strategy Board, aims to deliver a demonstration of the benefits that could be delivered by integration of city systems at scale and in use. Glasgow was announced as the winning city in January 2013.
	The Technology Strategy Board managed the competition application and assessment process involving independent external assessors. It did this in terms of:
	(a) efficacy and (c) value for money—the feasibility study stage of the competition provided all 29 successful bid cities with the opportunity to develop their demonstrator project proposals. The independent assessment process that followed ranked all the proposals and the final step of shortlisting and presentation to an independent panel ensured that the best proposal in terms of vision, scope, impact and value for money was selected.
	(b) accuracy—confidence in the feasibility of the proposals was provided by the detailed developed submissions and their independent assessment by external experts. The cost breakdown for the proposed projects was evaluated internally by the Technology Strategy Board in terms of eligible costs under the rules of the competition, and tested for reasonableness, based on evidence from the large number of projects that the Technology Strategy Board has successfully funded. Since third party contracts would be subject to public procurement rules, it was not possible for applicants to specify which third parties would be undertaking specific project activities in detail. The Technology Strategy Board relies on the public procurement process and the independent auditing of the local authority accounts to ensure that the appropriate processes were followed and value for money secured.

Royal Mail

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the profit margins were of the Royal Mail in each of the last 10 years.

Michael Fallon: The table sets out the profit margins for Royal Mail Group (including GLS (General Logistics Systems) but excluding POL).
	Royal Mail's preliminary results for 2012/13 published on 23 May indicated that the profit margin for the UK mails (excluding GLS which operates in Europe) was 3.9%—up from 0.5% the previous year. In the 12 years since 2002, Royal Mail's core UK letters and parcels business suffered losses in five of those years.
	
		
			  Margin (percentage) 
			 2003 0.3 
			 2004 3.3 
			 2005 2.3 
			 2006 3.8 
			 2007 2,1 
			 2008 -2.0 
			 2009 1.2 
			 2010 1.7 
			 2011 0.2 
			 2012 1.7 
			 2013 4.4 
			 Notes: 1. For 2005-07, Op profit calculated as Op profit before exceptional items minus Op Exceptional Items. 2. For 2003 and 2004, “profit from operations” used. Sources: 1. 2003-07 annual accounts 2. 2009-12 annual report 3. 2013 preliminary results

CABINET OFFICE

Unemployment: Young People

David Winnick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of 18 to 24 year olds have been unemployed for two years or more.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of 18 to 24 year olds have been unemployed for two years or more. 163711.
	Estimates of unemployment are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). For the period February to April 2013 it was estimated that there were 95,000 people aged 18-24 inclusive who have been unemployed for two years or more. This is 1.6 per cent of the population in this age group. Estimates are seasonally adjusted.
	Estimates of unemployment by age and duration are published monthly in Table UNEMP01 of the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin, found via the following link:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/june-2013/table-unem01.xls

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Housing: Disability

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to issue best practice guidance on the use of the disabled facilities grants to local authorities.

Mark Prisk: The Department for Communities and Local Government has no plans to publish best practice guidance on the use of the disabled facilities grant to local authorities, as it was always intended the sector would publish the guidance and not this Department. Officials in my Department are working with the Homes Adaptations Consortium on the drafting of the guidance.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government funds Foundations to be the National Body for Home Improvement Agencies. As part of its role, Foundations provides training, advice and support to home improvement agencies, which are responsible for delivering around half of the adaptations funded by grant.

Housing: Disability

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to provide housing to ensure that people with spinal cord injuries are not unsuitably discharged from hospital into a nursing home;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to provide housing for people with spinal cord injuries who are living in nursing homes because they are unable to find suitable housing.

Mark Prisk: The Government are working to actively promote specialised housing and the adaption of existing housing to help disabled, older and vulnerable people to live independently in their own homes. My Department provides Disabled Facilities Grant funding to local housing authorities in England for the provision of adaptations to the homes of disabled people.
	The Government secured £725 million for the grant in the 2010 spending review for the period 2011-12 to 2014-15. In 2011-12 the annual allocation for the grant rose to £180 million, an increase of £11 million compared to the 2010-11 budget of £169 million. The allocation for the grant will increase further to £185 million by the end of the spending review (2014-15).
	Over the last two years, the Government have invested an additional £60 million bringing the total grant in 2011-12 to £200 million and in 2012-13 to £220 million.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government is working in partnership with the Department of Health regarding the future provision of specialised housing specifically for older and disabled people. The Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund is making up to £300 million available over five years to stimulate the market for specialised housing. The Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act 2003 gives entailments to six weeks of intermediate care, which can include reablement, as well as aids and minor adaptations up to the value of £1,000. Both of these strands help individuals, including those with spinal injuries, to return to their own home.

MITIE Group

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spends on contracts with MITIE; and how much was spent on contracts with MITIE in each year since 2008.

Brandon Lewis: The Department no longer contracts with MITIE. The last contract with MITIE ended on 31 March 2012.
	The amounts spent with MITIE since 2008 are set out in the table:
	
		
			 Financial year Amount (£) 
			 2008-09 7,148,618 
			 2009-10 7,992,470 
			 2010-11 4,847,386 
			 2011-12 5,353,495 
			 2012-13 368,913 
		
	
	The spend figure in 2012-13 relates to payments of fixed costs and final settlement for pass through costs for March 2012 which were paid in April of the following financial year in line with current payment plan and policy.
	In 2010 under the new coalition Government, an Estates rationalisation project was incepted to reduce property related costs. These were achieved through the reduction of services (notably the lease expiry of Riverwalk House) and renegotiation at a contract extension point.

Planning Permission

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the number of local authorities who have determined 30 per cent or fewer of major planning applications within 13 weeks in the last three years.

Nicholas Boles: A table showing the performance of local authorities in deciding major applications within 13 weeks, in each of the past three years, has been placed in the Library of the House.
	The Government's response to the consultation on tackling poor performance in the planning system, including our proposals for implementing Section 1 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013, was published on 4 June alongside the criteria proposed for designating authorities on the basis of under-performance against statutory deadlines.
	The final release of data on processing speeds, before any initial designations are made, will be in September this year (showing performance up to the end of June 2013).

Planning Permission

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many article 4 directions were put in place by local authorities in 2012;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to a local authority of putting in place an article 4 direction;
	(3)  whether his Department offers assistance to local authorities who wish to put in place an article 4 direction.

Nicholas Boles: The Department's records indicate that 99 article 4 directions were put in place by local authorities during 2012. The Department has issued guidance to local authorities on how to put in place an article 4 direction, including a one-page template for draft directions. Following discussion with the Local Government Association, this guidance is being updated as part of the Government's review of planning guidance. Article 4 directions vary significantly in scope, and can apply for example to a single property or a wider area. It is for local authorities to ensure that costs associated with putting a direction in place, if they decide to do so, are proportionate in the context of local circumstances.

Urban Areas

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussion the Future High Streets Commission has had about the introduction of a two year flexible use class.

Mark Prisk: The Portas Review noted that the use class system imposed unnecessary restrictions on business, and made it too difficult for buildings to have different uses and to change uses. The Government's response to the Portas Review in March 2012 noted that the Government were undertaking a wider review of how change of use is handled in the planning system, with a view to reducing the burden of regulation.
	The Future High Streets Forum was set up in March 2013. It is considering a wide range of issues, including planning, that impact on the high street. The proposal for a temporary two-year flexible use was set out in the July 2012 consultation New opportunities for sustainable development and growth through the reuse of existing buildings. The summary of responses was published in May 2013, and the amended rules came into force on 30 May 2013. As announced in the Budget, we are considering what further steps can be taken to support vibrant town centres and help get empty and redundant buildings back into productive use.

DEFENCE

Firing Ranges: Shoeburyness

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the viability of developing housing on his Department's land in Shoeburyness;
	(2)  what proposals his Department has received to develop housing on its land in Shoeburyness.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has not made any assessments or received any proposals on the viability of developing housing on land at Shoeburyness.

Iran

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2013, Official Report, column 400W, on Iran, what the assessed and agreed potential liability is to International Military Services of funds owed to Iran.

Andrew Robathan: The matter is the subject of ongoing commercial negotiations between International Military Services (IMS), a private limited company, and the Iranian authorities.

Procurement

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2013, Official Report, column 401W, on procurement, what the total sum saved through his Department's re-negotiation of contracts is since May 2010.

Andrew Murrison: I can confirm that significant savings made through contract re-negotiations from May 2010 positively contributed to balancing the Ministry of Defence budget during Planning Round 12. I am withholding the information as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.

Vending Machines

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many vending machines in his Department's premises contain snack foods that are high in calories and low in nutritional value.

Andrew Murrison: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Domestic Visits

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many visits he has made to (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in each year since 2010.

Nicholas Clegg: Since 2010, I have made four visits to Scotland, three visits to Wales and two visits to Northern Ireland in an official capacity.

EDUCATION

Vending Machines

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many vending machines in his Department's premises contain snack foods that are high in calories and low in nutritional value.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has 11 vending machines located across five premises. These offer a range of snack foods, including healthy snacks such as multigrain cereal bars and yoghurts.
	The Department's catering supplier is also required to provide nutritionally balanced meals and snacks that promote healthier eating using fresh and seasonal produce, with low fat, salt and sugar content.

Youth Services

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what meetings (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had to discuss the youth-proofing of policy in the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many times his Department's Youth Action Group has met since publication of the Government's Positive for Youth initiative in December 2011;
	(3)  how many times he attended a Youth Action Group meeting since publication of the Government's Positive for Youth initiative in December 2011;
	(4)  what organisations he has met to discuss youth services policy since publication of the Government's Positive for Youth initiative in December 2011; and what the date and duration was of each such meeting;
	(5)  what organisations officials in his Department have met to discuss youth services policy since the publication of the Government's Positive for Youth initiative in December 2011; and what the date and duration was of each such meeting.

Edward Timpson: The Youth Voice programme, which is delivered by the British Youth Council with grant funding from the Department for Education, includes provision for the National Scrutiny Group and the Youth Select Committee. These groups scrutinise the work of all Government Departments and both have looked at the Department for Education's work on Curriculum and Qualifications. In February 2012, the National Scrutiny Group discussed youth policy with the Secretary of State for Education and on 2 July they discussed the Prime Minister's decision to transfer youth policy to the Cabinet Office with me and the Minister for Civil Society, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd). The Cabinet Office is assuming responsibility for the Youth Voice programme and grant as part of the Machinery of Government change announced on 3 July.
	The minutes of the Youth Action Group are published on the internet at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeople/a00192405/youth-action-group
	These show that the group met on 7 June 2011, 25 October 2011, 12 January 2012, 27 June 2012, 30 October 2012, 20 March 2013 and that I co-chaired the most recent meetings with Martina Milburn of the Prince's Trust. Ministers from other Departments also attended. The group is meeting on 9 July 2013 when the Minister for Civil Society will assume my role as co-chair.
	In addition, Ministers and officials have had numerous other meetings with organisations representing the youth sector since we published Positive for Youth. Compiling a list of the date and duration of these meetings and discussions would be possible only at disproportionate cost.

Youth Services

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many myplace youth centres have been completed.

Edward Timpson: As of June 2013, 59 out of the 63 Myplace projects funded were completed. A total of £235 million of capital grant from the Department for Education and former Department for Children Schools and Families was allocated to the myplace projects.
	In respect of the incomplete projects, Bexley and Calderdale are already partially open and will be completed imminently. Tower Hamlets and Suffolk are due to complete later in the year.

Youth Services

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when his Department plans to publish its audit of progress on cross-governmental policies for young people aged 13 to 19, as outlined in the Government's report, Positive for Youth.

Edward Timpson: The Prime Minister announced on 3 July 2013 that the Cabinet Office is assuming lead responsibility for Youth Services. Alongside this announcement, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Education published jointly a report on the progress of Positive for Youth(1).
	(1)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210383/Positive-for-Youth-progress-update.pdf

Youth Services

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what guidance he has provided to local authorities on the delivery of youth services;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to promote (a) local accountability and (b) collaboration in the delivery of youth services;
	(3)  how he monitors progress on the provision of youth services nationally;
	(4)  how many interventions his Department made to address problems in youth service delivery since publication of the Government's Positive for Youth initiative in December 2011, by geographical location;
	(5)  what minimum expectations of delivery he has issued to local authorities on the delivery of youth services;
	(6)  what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding of and level of spend for youth services.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education published, on 12 August 2012, revised statutory guidance to local authorities on their duty to secure, as far as is reasonably practicable, youth services and to involve young people in local decision making and scrutiny.
	We provide funding for youth services through the Business Rates Retention Scheme. As our statutory guidance makes clear, local authorities are best placed to decide what services will meet local needs and priorities and how to meet these needs within available resources.
	We expect local authorities to work with other agencies and organisations to deliver youth services, and encourage local people to challenge decision makers so that services continually improve. We have supported the British Youth Council's (BYC) work to produce specific guidance for young people on holding their local authority to account. We also fund the BYC's Youth Voice Programme which supports young people's involvement in local and national accountability. The progress report on Positive for Youth, which we published jointly with the Cabinet Office on 3 July, encourages all sectors at both national and local level to collaborate effectively for young people's benefit, and includes examples of good practice.
	We collect annual data on local authorities' planned and actual expenditure on youth services. To date we have received no formal complaints that local authorities are not delivering their responsibilities and we have not needed to use the statutory interventions.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Electricity

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of maximum electricity demand as a percentage of capacity in the UK.

Michael Fallon: In winter 2011-12 (the latest year for which data are available), maximum electricity demand was 69.8% of UK capacity(1). Data for 2012-13 will be published on 25 July 2013.
	(1) Capacity for wind, small hydro and solar PV are de-rated for intermittency.
	Source:
	Digest of UK Energy Statistics, 2012, table 5.10, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Electricity

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what reductions (a) have occurred over the last five years and (b) are anticipated in the next 10 years in the total electricity generating capacity of the United Kingdom; and to what extent these will be offset by new generating capacity in each period.

Gregory Barker: The reductions, and additions, in total generating capacity in the United Kingdom over the last four years is shown in the following table.
	Data for 2012 will be available on 25 July 2013. A split between additions and reductions for 2007 is not currently available. However, in 2012, three large coal/oil- fired stations (totalling 5.2 GW) closed under the large combustion plant directive, while two CCGT stations (totalling 3.5 GW) opened.
	
		
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Cumulative additions (GW) 1.2 2.6 8.5 9.7 
			 Cumulative reductions (GW) 0.3 0.4 0.8 3.3 
			 Note: Wind/small hydro/PV capacity under this measure is de-rated; reductions are not available for non-major power producers (they are netted off the additional capacity). 
		
	
	Net capacity increase figures can be found in table DUKES 5.7:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes
	DECC's last published estimates for new capacity and retirements were in autumn 2012 as part of the annual updated energy projections. The data can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2012-energy-and-emissions-projections
	Annex I suggests the following for the total cumulative new build over the next 10 years starting from 2013:
	
		
			  Cumulative additions (GW) 
			 2013 11.2 
			 2014 16.5 
			 2015 20.6 
			 2016 24.1 
			 2017 30.2 
			 2018 34.6 
			 2019 38.3 
			 2020 44.1 
			 2021 46.9 
			 2022 48.1 
			 2023 49.9 
		
	
	Although reductions of capacity are not explicitly set out, they can be inferred from 2014 onwards using data from annex I and annex J.
	
		
			  Cumulative reductions (GW) 
			 2013 n/a 
			 2014 6.9 
			 2015 11.2 
			 2016 13.4 
			 2017 16.7 
			 2018 17.3 
			 2019 17.3 
			 2020 17.3 
			 2021 19.6 
			 2022 22.7 
			 2023 25.0 
		
	
	These will be updated later this year to reflect the latest developments in policy as well as the wider economy.

Energy Companies Obligation

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many companies who secured a contract through eco-brokerage have defaulted on their contractual obligations since July 2012.

Gregory Barker: When trading on brokerage, participants enter contracts, the contents of which are confidential. The Government Procurement Service (GPS) runs the brokerage platform. When damages become payable for default on contractual obligations, the parties can request information from GPS to enable them to calculate the amount of damages payable.
	Since brokerage started in January 2013, GPS has received requests for such information in relation to one company.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many cashback vouchers have been (a) issued and (b) paid in each (i) parliamentary constituency and (ii) local authority area by 16 June 2013.

Gregory Barker: 5,118 cashback vouchers had been issued by 16 June. 968 cashback vouchers (with a total value of £263,452) had been paid, following the installation of measures, to individual households up to 16 June. The Department will provide geographical breakdowns of cashbacks paid in future quarterly Green Deal and ECO statistic reports.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) Green Deal assessments and (b) Green Deal plans were completed in each (i) parliamentary constituency and (ii) local authority area by 16 June 2013.

Gregory Barker: The number of Green Deal assessments by local authority, up to 31 March 2013, is available in Table 1 of the first Green Deal and ECO quarterly Official Statistics release:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208912/GD_Statistics_-_Ql_2013.xlsx
	I will place in the Libraries of the House a table showing the number of Green Deal assessments by parliamentary constituency up to 31 March 2013. Assessments by local authority and by parliamentary constituency, up to 30 June 2013, will be included in the next quarterly release published on 19 September.
	The Department will provide geographic breakdowns of Green Deal Plans in future quarterly Official Statistics releases.

Power Stations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will list those (a) oil-fired and (b) coal-fired power stations which (i) have been closed during the last five years and (ii) are due to be closed during the next 10 years, together with the reasons for closure in each case.

Gregory Barker: The following coal-fired and oil-fired power stations have closed over the period commencing in May 2008 to date:
	Didcot A (coal)
	Kingsnorth (coal)
	Cockenzie (coal)
	Grain (oil)
	Fawley (oil).
	The following coal-fired and oil-fired power stations will cease operation by no later than 31 December 2015:
	Ferrybridge C (coal) (two of four units to close)
	Ironbridge (coal/biomass)
	Tilbury B (coal/biomass)
	Littlebrook (oil).
	It is a commercial decision for the plants' operators when to close. The power stations listed above chose to opt out of the large combustion plant directive (2001/80/EC), which placed limits on their operation, including a back-stop closures date of 31 December 2015. However, this may not be the sole reason for closure.
	The industrial emissions directive (2010/75/EU) places further restrictions on the emissions of oxides of sulphur and nitrogen from coal plants. It is not possible, though, to confirm which coal-fired power stations other than those listed above are due to be closed during the next 10 years as such decisions are a commercial matter for individual operators.

Power Stations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy to mothball sufficient power stations (a) already and (b) scheduled to be taken out of service to ensure a strategic reserve generating capacity to (i) prevent power cuts and (ii) meet emergency demands in times of conflict or other crises;
	(2)  whether he has identified any power stations, either closed or scheduled for closure, which could be mothballed economically; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: Decisions on whether to mothball power stations are taken by individual plant owners, not Government.
	Government considered as part of our Electricity Market Reform Programme a number of options to ensure future security of electricity supply, including a Strategic Reserve. A Capacity Market, rather than a Strategic Reserve, was chosen as the preferred means as it offers the surest way to ensure security of supply against a range of scenarios. In June 2013 Government confirmed that the first capacity auction would be held in late 2014 for delivery in 2018-19, subject to state aid approval.
	In addition, Ofgem and National Grid have undertaken a consultation on the need for and design of new balancing services to ensure security of supply in the period before the Capacity Market is in operation. This could include National Grid contracting generation plant that would otherwise be retired as uneconomic, which is likely to include plant that is currently mothballed.

Power Stations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether (a) EU and (b) other restrictions on emissions by power stations can be set aside in circumstances of national emergency; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: Regulation of emissions from existing power stations currently derives from EU directives on large combustion plants (2001/80/EC) and integrated pollution prevention and control (2008/1/EC). The former allows limited derogation from its requirements if there is an overriding need to maintain energy supplies, but only in the event of (i) malfunction or breakdown of abatement equipment, or (ii) for power stations normally fuelled by gas, sudden interruption in the supply of gas. Neither directive, nor the national legislation through which they are transposed, makes other provision for circumstances of national emergency.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much generation capacity from non-renewable energy sources was installed in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Michael Fallon: Major Power Producers (generators with a portfolio of above 90 MW of capacity) (MPPs) represent around 95% of the UK's non-renewable electricity generation capacity. In 2011, no capacity was installed from non-renewable electricity sources by MPPs. In 2012, 3.5 GW (Pembroke and West Burton CCGT power stations) was installed.
	Sources:
	1. Table DUKES 5.11 (capacity as at the end of May 2012):
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes
	2. EDF Energy website:
	http://www.edfenergy.com/about-us/energy-generation/thermal-power-generation/west-burton-combined-cycle-gas-turbine.shtml#

Renewable Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much generation capacity from renewable energy sources was installed in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Michael Fallon: DECC produces statistics on cumulative renewable electricity capacity installed. This is net of reductions, closures and conversions, as well as new capacity. During 2011, 3.0 GW of capacity was installed (including 0.8 GW from the conversion of Tilbury power station from coal to biomass). During 2012, 3.3 GW of capacity was installed.
	Source:
	Energy Trends table ET 6.1, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/renewables-statistics

Solar Power: China

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration his Department made of the potential effect on sales of solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers in the UK of the decision to oppose European Union anti-dumping prohibitions against solar PV imports from China.

Gregory Barker: The Department is working closely with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, which leads on all Trade Defence issues, on this matter.
	As with all trade defence cases, the Government based our position on an economic evaluation of the European Commission's proposals. Our consideration included assessment of the impact of these proposals on the solar PV supply chain. The Government also took account of information and views received from interested parties, including UK manufacturers, installers, developers, importers and users of solar PV products.

Vending Machines

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many vending machines in his Department's premises contain snack foods that are high in calories and low in nutritional value.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has one vending machine that meets the criteria of the question.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Buildings

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department owns Rectory Farm adjacent to Wisley Airfield, Surrey; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The Department owns the freehold interest in 49.7 hectares of land contiguous with Wisley airfield. Part of this landholding is known as Old Rectory Farm, Ockham. The Department has ownership of the farm but not the farmhouse.

Fisheries

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the inclusion of goals on sustainable ocean fishery practices in any successor to the millennium development goals.

Richard Benyon: At the request of the UN Secretary-General, the Prime Minister, together with the Presidents of Indonesia and Liberia, co-chaired the UN High-Level Panel on the post-2015 development framework. The panel submitted its report to the Secretary-General at the end of May. It proposed inter alia a Sustainable Development Goal on food security and nutrition, which includes a target to adopt sustainable ocean fishery practices and rebuild designated fish stocks to sustainable levels.

Floods: Dorset

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much will be spent on improving sea defences in Dorset as a result of the 2013 spending review.

Richard Benyon: The impact of the 2013 spending review on future spending on sea defences in Dorset has not yet been determined.
	Prioritisation of funding is carried out against a consistent set of criteria applied to all risk management authorities as appropriate. This ensures a fair distribution of funding based on agreed priorities, principles and needs. Regional Flood and Coastal Committees (RFCCs) are kept informed during the development of the allocation and agree their final allocations during the January round of meetings.

Floods: Insurance

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had on the provision of affordable flood insurance.

Richard Benyon: On 27 June 2013 the Government announced a headline agreement with industry to guarantee affordable flood insurance for people in high-risk areas. The Association of British Insurers has assured Ministers that implementing Flood Re will have minimal impacts on customers' bills. We will be seeking the necessary powers in the Water Bill.
	Tackling flood risk will help keep insurance terms affordable in the long-term. We announced record levels of capital investment of more than £2.3 billion between 2015-16 to 2020-21.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) in the UK are used in the retail sector; which UK retailers were directly invited to attend his Department's stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps focus group meeting of 21 December 2012 on the EC proposal for a revised F-gas regulation; which UK retailers have been formally consulted on the review of EC Regulation No. 842/2006 in the last 12 months; with which companies and individuals his Department has met in the last 12 months to discuss the review of that regulation; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: While data are available for the total sales of F-gases in the UK, they do not provide information about which market sectors and sub-sectors subsequently use these F-gases.
	No UK retailers were directly invited to attend the stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps focus group meeting held on 21 December 2012. However, representatives were invited from the Food and Drink Federation, British Retail Consortium (BRC) and British Frozen Food Federation.
	All UK supermarkets were invited, either directly or through invitations to industry representative bodies, to attend an open stakeholder meeting that was held in London on 4 March to discuss the European Commission's proposal for a new regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases.
	Officials continue to have regular dialogue with UK food retailers and the BRC to discuss steps they are taking to address their use of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. Furthermore, as part of the implementation of the fluorinated greenhouse gases regulatory framework there have been concentrated efforts to work with the large food retailers, who are major users of HFCs, to address their HFC emissions and reduce their leakage rates.
	I have placed a copy of the list of companies and individuals that DEFRA has met in the last 12 months to discuss the review of EC Regulation No. 842/2006 on fluorinated greenhouse gases in the Library of the House.

Nature Conservation

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  which programmes and projects were undertaken by his Department under its priority of a healthy natural environment programme in each of the last three financial years; what the spending was on each in each such year; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each such programme and project for each of the next three years;
	(2)  which programmes and projects were undertaken by his Department under its priority to help to enhance the environment and biodiversity in each of the last three financial years; what the spending was on each in each such year; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each such programme and project for each of the next three years;
	(3)  which programmes and projects were undertaken by his Department under its priority to support a strong and sustainable green economy in each of the last three financial years; what the spending was on each in each such year; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each such programme and project for each of the next three years;
	(4)  what programmes and projects were undertaken by his Department under its priority to prepare and manage risk from animal and plant diseases in each of the last three financial years; what the spending was on each in each such year; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each such programme and project for each of the next three years;
	(5)  what programmes and projects were undertaken by his Department under its priority to prepare and manage risk from environmental emergencies in each of the last three financial years; what the spending was on each in each such year; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each such programme and project for each of the next three years;
	(6)  what programmes and projects were undertaken by his Department under its priority of adapting to a climate change programme in each of the last three financial years; what the spending was on each in each such year; and what estimate he has made of likely spend on each such programme and project for each of the next three years.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 4 July 2013
	Details of DEFRA's performance against its priorities can be found within the Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) for the relevant years. The ARA is presented to the House of Commons each year; details are available on the DEFRA pages of the www.gov.uk website. The ARA for 2012-13 is due to be published prior to summer recess.
	Budget information for 2013-14 can be found in the parliamentary estimates that were published by Her Majesty's Treasury on the gov.uk website.
	DEFRA's Business Plan sets out our current priorities along with details of planned departmental expenditure. Budgets for the years 2014-15 and 2015-16 are still being finalised. Once this has been done, details will be available in the parliamentary estimate documents for the respective year. The Business Plan is published on the Number 10 pages of the gov.uk site.
	A table detailing the breakdown of the priorities by programme has been placed in the House Library.

Plants: Falkland Islands

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what help he has given to the Falkland Islands Government to tackle the plant calafate originally from Argentina; and when this invasion of plant calafate is expected to be eradicated.

Richard Benyon: Responsibility for environmental management in the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) has been devolved to the Territories' own Governments. However, the UK Government recognise that many UKOTs lack sufficient funding and/or personnel to ensure the protection of the local environment and therefore they require additional support.
	In 2011, DEFRA initiated a series of research projects to address threats to biodiversity in the South Atlantic Overseas Territories. These projects were designed to bring UK and overseas expertise together to address issues specifically identified by the Overseas Territories' Governments. The funding for these was separate from Darwin Initiative funding. Two of these projects addressed threats from invasive plants in the Falklands:
	1. A review of the potential for bio-control of invasive species in the Falklands and South Georgia, a £58,000 project undertaken by CABI UK. This identified one potential bio-control agent for calafate (Berberis microphylla). The research was published on the DEFRA science website in 2012.
	2. A review of the rate and extent of spread and risks posed by invasive species, a £74,000 project undertaken by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Falklands Conservation. This research looked at a range of invasive plants in the Falklands, including calafate and has supported the production of a draft strategy for invasive species control in the Falklands. The final report will be published on the DEFRA science website in 2013. The draft invasive plant strategy is currently being reviewed by Falklands Government experts.
	In October 2012, UK Government also launched a new Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund, also known as Darwin Plus. This provides funding of around £2 million per year for projects in our UK Overseas Territories; the call for applications is currently open.

Shellfish: Colchester

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on issuing a Protected Geographical Indication for the Colchester Oyster; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The application to register the Colchester Native Oyster as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) was received in 2005. It was then the subject of a consultation in order to allow interested parties the opportunity to object to the application. A number of objections were received during the consultation process.
	Since then, officials have met with representatives of the applicant group to discuss the objections and outstanding points relating to the product specification for the application. Following on from this further information relating to the geographical area and other aspects of the application was sought from the applicant group which, despite reminders from officials, was not forthcoming. As a result, no further progress has been made with this application.
	The PGI scheme is a voluntary one and so it is for the producers to decide whether they wish to pursue the application. Should they wish to do this then officials would be happy to meet with them to discuss the outstanding points which need to be resolved. This should then enable the application to be completed and a decision to be taken on its eligibility.

Tyres: Waste Disposal

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many licences are currently approved for the recycling of waste tyres.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 19 June 2013
	As of April 2013 there were 59 facilities permitted specifically for the treatment of waste tyres. This does not include civic amenity sites or facilities that may transfer and treat a whole range of wastes, of which tyres may be one of many permitted waste streams. It does not include incineration facilities either, although some of these may also burn waste tyres.
	In addition to permitted sites, a number of sites are registered with the Environment Agency as exempt from the need for an environmental permit. These are detailed in the following table:
	
		
			 Exemption Total 
			 Mechanical treatment of end of life tyres (T8) 395 
			 Preparatory treatment of end of life tyres (baling, sorting, etc.) (T4) 3,517 
			 Use of end of life tyres in construction (U2) 539

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

African Union

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to co-operate with member states of the African Union which supported its recent resolution calling for payments of ransom to terrorists to be made illegal, in working towards that goal.

Alistair Burt: The British Government and the African Union share the same policy against the payment of ransoms to terrorist groups. The Government used our G8 Presidency to secure a G8 commitment to unequivocally reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists. We will work closely with the African Union and other multilateral fora to amplify the strong message made by the G8 in order to suffocate kidnap for ransom as a source of terrorist funding. We hope African countries will support our work in the UN to establish new mechanisms to raise awareness of the threat of kidnap for ransom, including any further resolutions to address and mitigate the threat.
	It is already illegal to pay ransoms to terrorists under international and UK law.

Dominican Republic

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when HM Ambassador to the Dominican Republic last discussed the case of Ms Nicole Reyes, a constituent of the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth, with the Government of the Dominican Republic.

Hugo Swire: HM Ambassador to the Dominican Republic discussed the case with the Dominican ambassador to the UK in February. Consular officials at the British embassy have raised welfare concerns on a regular basis and urged the relevant authorities to address these issues where appropriate. We are monitoring Ms Reyes' case very closely and stand ready to make further representations as necessary.

Dominican Republic

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he or one of his Ministers last met the (a) Justice Minister and (b) Attorney-General of the Dominican Republic.

Hugo Swire: The position of Justice Minister does not exist in the Dominican Republic. The responsibility for the justice system is shared between the Attorney-General and the President of the Supreme Court. Neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs nor any members of his ministerial team have met the President of the Supreme Court or the Attorney-General of the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when HM Ambassador to the Dominican Republic last met the (a) Justice Minister and (b) Attorney-General of the Dominican Republic.

Hugo Swire: The position of Justice Minister does not exist in the Dominican Republic. The responsibility for the justice system is shared between the Attorney-General and the President of the Supreme Court. Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Dominican Republic last met the President of the Supreme Court on 24 January 2013 and last met the Attorney-General on 11 September 2012.

Dominican Republic

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when HM Ambassador to the Dominican Republic last met the Dominican Republic's Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

Hugo Swire: Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Dominican Republic last met the Dominican Republic's ambassador to the United Kingdom on 10 June 2013 in Santo Domingo.

Kidnapping

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department is considering taking steps to prevent (a) insurance companies, (b) businesses and (c) other bodies from paying ransoms to terrorists.

Alistair Burt: It is already illegal to pay ransoms to terrorists under international and UK law. The British Government are committed to ensuring that UK insurance companies, businesses and other bodies abide by these legal obligations. The Government are also pressing international partners to do the same and used the UK Presidency of the G8 to secure a G8 commitment to unequivocally reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists. We hope that other countries, and businesses and the non-governmental sector in those countries, will follow the G8's lead. We will work closely with them in order to suffocate kidnap for ransom as a source of terrorist funding.

Kidnapping

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has held with interested parties about the practice of freeing convicted terrorists as part of hostage-release packages; and what steps he plans to take to bring that practice to an end.

Alistair Burt: The British Government have a long-standing policy of not making or facilitating substantive concessions to hostage-takers. This means the Government will not pay ransoms, exchange prisoners or change government policy.
	We continue to press the international community to follow the UK's lead in not making any concessions to terrorists at the UN and elsewhere. The Government recently used our G8 Presidency to prioritise this issue and secured a significant G8 commitment unequivocally to reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists. We hope other countries will follow the G8’s lead. At the same time the Government will continue to discuss the issue at the UN and in other multilateral fora to amplify the strong message made by the G8 to suffocate kidnap for ransom as a source of terrorist funding.

Kidnapping

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that an effective mechanism is put in place to regulate and police ransom payments to terrorists.

Alistair Burt: It is already illegal to pay ransoms to terrorists under international and UK law. The UN sanctions regime established by UN Resolution 1267 (1999) states that the payment of ransoms to designated terrorists contravenes international law. The UK's obligations under international law are also mirrored in UK domestic legislation through the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT).
	The UK is taking the lead in encouraging other states, businesses and the non-governmental sector not to make concessions to terrorists. The Government recently used our G8 Presidency to prioritise this issue and secured a significant G8 commitment to unequivocally reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists.

Kidnapping

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of international measures in place to prevent countries rejecting financial ransom demands in public while paying them in private.

Alistair Burt: International legal obligations under the UN Sanctions regime established by UN Resolution 1267 (1999) explicitly state that the payment of ransoms to designated terrorists contravenes international law. The Government have taken the lead pressing the international community to abide by its international legal obligations. The UK used its presidency of the G8 to secure an unequivocal commitment to reject ransom payments to terrorists in accordance with the UN sanctions regime. At the G8 leaders recognised that ransom payments only fuel the problem of terror, strengthening and sustaining terrorist groups and encouraging them to carry out future kidnaps. We hope that other countries will follow the G8's lead and ensure that all states uphold the sanctions regime.

Palestinians

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of reports that the UN Development Programme has sponsored the annual Palestinian Prince of Martyrs Abu Jihad Football Tournament;
	(2)  what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority about UN Development Programme sponsorship of a recent football tournament in memory of terrorist Abu Jihad.

Alistair Burt: As the Prime Minister made clear in his speech to the United Jewish Israel Appeal on 15 October 2012, the UK will not tolerate incitement to terrorism and cannot support those who name sporting events after suicide bombers. The UN Development Programme made clear in a statement on 2 May 2013 that it has had no role in the tournament, its naming or any other activity related to it. The statement is available here:
	http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/articles/2013/05/02/undp-response-to-soccer-tournament-hosted-by-ansal-al-quds-club-in-jerusalem/
	We have a regular dialogue with the Palestinian Authority and Israeli Government in which we reiterate the need for both sides to prepare their populations for peaceful coexistence and to avoid anything which stirs up hatred and prejudice. Our consul-general to Jerusalem reiterated this position in a speech on 19 June 2013, in which he called on Prime Minister Hamdallah to continue to avoid violence and incitement. We have also raised the issue of incitement with the then Prime Minister Fayyad's office in January 2013.

Saudi Arabia

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will issue a public condemnation of the recent convictions of and prison sentences awarded to seven activists in Saudi Arabia for inciting protests on Facebook.

Alistair Burt: We are aware of reports that seven men have been found guilty of incitement to protest in Saudi Arabia. We understand that some of the men had also been charged with—and may have been found guilty of—inciting violence, including calling for attacks on Government targets. The case remains subject to appeal. We are clear that the rights to legitimate and peaceful demonstrations are guaranteed by international law and should be welcomed in any society. We also expect opposition activists to ensure their words and actions do not incite violence. We regularly raise our concerns about freedom of expression with the Saudi Government, and will continue to do so.

HEALTH

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on awarding ongoing payments to victims of contaminated blood who are infected with either HIV or hepatitis C stage two; for what reasons such payments are awarded; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Government make annual non-discretionary payments, currently £14,191, uprated each year in line with the consumer prices index, to all individuals infected with HIV or with the most serious hepatitis C-related disease, in recognition of the special circumstances of these individuals as a result of their infection.

Fertility

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the differences in the availability of (a) intrauterine insemination and (b) in vitro fertilisation across NHS trusts in England.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not collect this information.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's latest estimate is of that sum owed to the NHS by foreign patients; and how much of that sum is made up of debts owed by foreign patients treated in private beds in NHS hospitals.

Anna Soubry: The Department holds data centrally from national health service trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) on income relating to chargeable overseas visitors, which is the amount they have charged them for NHS treatment, and the amount of debt relating to them that they have written off in their accounts. The following table shows this data for 2011-12, which is the latest year for which figures are available. The chairman of Monitor has provided similar data for NHS foundation trusts, which are also in the table.
	
		
			 £ 
			  Overseas patients (non-reciprocal) income Overseas patients losses, bad debts and claims abandoned 
			 NHS trusts/PCTs 19,538,000 8,882,969 
			 NHS foundation trusts 13,200,000 2,676,000 
			 Total 32,738,000 11,558,969 
			 Source: NHS trust audited summarisation schedules and NHS foundation trust consolidated accounts. 
		
	
	However, this does not reveal the amount that is owed to the NHS by foreign patients. The written-off debt data may relate to treatment provided to overseas visitors in earlier financial years. Furthermore, since overseas visitors can include United Kingdom nationals visiting the UK, the data will not relate exclusively to foreign patients.
	The Department does not hold information centrally about how much of the sum shown in the table is made up of debts owed by foreign patients treated in private beds in NHS hospitals.

NHS: Standards

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what involvement Sir David Nicholson had in (a) commissioning and (b) producing the NHS Next Stage Review;
	(2)  with reference to the answer of 10 October 2007, Official Report, column 672W, on NHS Next Stage Review, what the final cost of the NHS Next Stage Review was and the costs of the review under each major cost area were;
	(3)  with reference to the answer of 10 October 2007, Official Report, column 672W, on NHS Next Stage Review, how many (a) clinicians, (b) managers and (c) other staff made formal contributions to the NHS Next Stage Review.

Anna Soubry: The NHS Next Stage Review was commissioned by the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown), the then Prime Minister, and reported in 2008. The report was based on the contributions of a wide variety of organisations and individuals, primarily under the auspices of the strategic health authorities, who themselves published their own strategic vision documents, upon which the final report drew considerably. The national review team was led by Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department, with contributions from many other Ministers. Sir David Nicholson, as chief executive of the national health service at the time, played a substantial role in the review, alongside other leaders in the health and social care system.
	Papers relating to the review are available on the national archives website at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/healthcare/highqualitycareforall/index.htm
	Available information about the costs of the review were set out by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Ann Keen) on 10 October 2007, Official Report, columns 672-73W. She said that the total departmental spend so far on staff, patients and public engagement in direct connection with the review was £1.2 million. Further breakdowns are not available, since the process of developing the local strategic vision documents, which involved many thousands of staff, included activities such as strategic planning, public consultation and service quality improvement that are an integral part of core, mainstream business.

Nurses: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered nurses there were at each acute hospital trust in London in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: As a consequence of Transforming Community Services, the provider arm of some former primary care trusts may have transferred into local acute trusts. For that reason, the following table shows the numbers of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed by each national health service organisation, including acute trusts, in the former London strategic health authority area as at 30 September in each of the specified years.
	
		
			 NHS hospital and community health services: qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in the London strategic health authority area by organisation as at 30 September each specified year 
			 Full time equivalent 
			  2010 2011 2012 
			 London Strategic Health Authority area 51,839 51,785 51,886 
			     
			 NHS Trusts 46,017 49,545 51,343 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,638 1,866 1,870 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 1,301 1,313 1,357 
			 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust 652 824 798 
			 Barts and the London NHS Trust 2,435 2,531 n/a 
			 Barts Health NHS Trust n/a n/a 4,488 
			 Bromley Healthcare n/a n/a 197 
			 Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust 542 492 415 
			 Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust 1,286 1,189 1,591 
			 Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust n/a 687 957 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,050 1,040 1,076 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 941 920 884 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 524 1,059 1,071 
			 East London NHS Foundation Trust 888 1,147 1,040 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,268 1,322 1,317 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Foundation Trust 1,092 1,061 1,137 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 3,026 3,543 3,663 
			 Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 746 753 720 
		
	
	
		
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 746 1,012 1,018 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 3,206 3,229 3,165 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,154 2,263 2,410 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 764 729 754 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 802 955 950 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 320 350 348 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 750 753 n/a 
			 North East London NHS Foundation Trust 711 714 1,617 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 720 730 694 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 1,501 1,489 1,556 
			 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust 794 1,009 1,016 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust 1,027 1,079 1,079 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 1,547 1,560 1,416 
			 Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 735 743 994 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 338 351 350 
			 South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust 1,530 1,472 1,472 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 1,809 1,809 1,745 
			 South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust 693 671 599 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 2,287 2,319 2,329 
			 Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 14 14 15 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,123 2,202 2,231 
			 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 1,290 1,199 1,080 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 698 638 612 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 1,141 1,162 n/a 
			 Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 783 1,199 1,154 
			 Your Healthcare 141 148 156 
			     
			 Primary Care Trusts 5,820 2,240 541 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 18 15 3 
			 Barnet PCT 278 279 n/a 
			 Bexley Care Trust 7 7 7 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 211 9 10 
			 Bromley PCT 236 212 12 
			 Camden PCT 211 228 n/a 
			 City and Hackney Teaching PCT 261 26 16 
			 Croydon PCT 30 n/a n/a 
			 Ealing PCT 242 10 11 
			 Enfield PCT 196 1 n/a 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT 221 5 5 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 37 15 12 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT 144 10 n/a 
			 Harrow PCT 146 n/a n/a 
			 Havering PCT 528 449 2 
			 Hillingdon PCT 231 233 7 
			 Hounslow PCT 2 2 2 
			 Islington PCT 222 5 25 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 700 3 3 
			 Kingston PCT 2 n/a n/a 
			 Lambeth PCT 250 4 5 
			 Lewisham PCT 184 94 86 
			 Newham PCT 281 n/a n/a 
			 Redbridge PCT 84 85 15 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 292 269 283 
			 Southwark PCT 210 n/a n/a 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 258 239 n/a 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT 304 n/a n/a 
			 Waltham Forest PCT 10 4 3 
			 Wandsworth PCT 15 33 28 
			 Westminster PCT 8 3 6 
			     
		
	
	
		
			 London Strategic Health Authority 2 1 2 
			 n/a = Not applicable. Notes: 1. Full-time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. 2. As a consequence of TCS (Transforming Community Services) the former provider arm of some PCTs may have transferred into local acute trusts, this can be seen in the large increase in staff numbers at Ealing Hospital NHS Trust for example. For this reason we have supplied figures for all NHS organisations. Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census

School Milk

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he is considering adopting a cap-based solution to the nursery milk scheme.

Daniel Poulter: The Department is analysing evidence and responses received to the Next Steps for Nursery Milk consultation. A decision about the future operation of the nursery milk scheme will be made after full consideration is given to the evidence, responses and other relevant information.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Glastonbury Festival

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many new psychoactive substances were identified by her Department's forensic early warning system at the Glastonbury festival in (a) 2013, (b) 2012 and (c) 2011.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office Forensic Early Warning System (FEWS) identified 13 different new psychoactive substances, most in more than one sample, at the Glastonbury festival in 2011. Of these, nine are currently controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Together with the Advisory Council we continue to develop the evidence on these, and other so called ‘legal highs', as they are identified by FEWS, taking legislative action when the evidence base supports it.
	There was no Glastonbury festival in 2012. FEWS attended the 2013 Glastonbury festival which ended last week. The results from the samples analysed at the 2013 festival are not yet available.

Human Trafficking

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding her Department allocated in 2012-13 and has allocated in 2014-15 for (a) research into the prevention of human trafficking and (b) rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking.

Mark Harper: No Home Office funding for research into the prevention of human trafficking in 2012-13 was allocated.
	Funding for research projects is considered as required.
	The Home Office has granted £44,266, in total, to the Refugee Council and The Children's Society for a joint bid to undertake a scoping review of the practical care arrangements for trafficked children. This will add value to our understanding of the issues affecting the lives of this vulnerable group of young people and will be useful in shaping future policy and enhancing practice in this area.
	In 2012-13, the Home Office paid £1.5 million to the Ministry of Justice, to fund the victim care contract for adult victims of trafficking in England and Wales.
	The victim care contract will be retendered for 2014-15 and the funding position will be kept under review.
	Budgets for research and rehabilitation in 2014-15 have not yet been agreed.

Property

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) location and (b) value is of any property her Department owns in Scotland.

Mark Harper: The Home Department owns one property in Scotland: Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre, Strathaven, Lanarkshire ML10 6RF. This property was valued in March 2011 at £4.6 million.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Devolution

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will place in the Library any concordats which her Department or the public body for which she is responsible have with the devolved Administrations.

Alan Duncan: DFID does not have any concordats with counterparts in the devolved Administrations of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Dominican Republic

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid the Government provided (a) directly and (b) via multilateral agencies to support judicial and penal reform in the Dominican Republic in each of the last five years.

Alan Duncan: There has been no bilateral funding provided to multilateral agencies supporting judicial and penal reform in the Dominican Republic in the last five years. The FCO has provided some support to the judicial and penal systems from their own budget.

JUSTICE

Burglary

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of people convicted of burglary offences were given custodial sentences in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders found guilty, sentenced and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for burglary offences, with immediate custody rate (the proportion of offenders sentenced who are sentenced to immediate custody), in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012, can be viewed in the table.
	
		
			 Offenders found guilty, sentenced and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for burglary offences, with immediate custody rate, England and Wales, 2008-12(1,2) 
			 Outcome 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Found guilty 23,882 22,983 23,909 25,446 22,427 
			 Sentenced 23,651 22,765 23,599 25,189 22,083 
			 Of which:      
			 Suspended sentence 2,432 2,374 2,600 2,769 2,600 
			 Immediate custody 9,960 10,028 10,447 12,181 11,422 
			 Immediate custody rate(3) (%) 42.1 44.1 44.3 48.4 51.7 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The proportion of offenders sentenced who are sentenced to immediate custody. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Legal Aid Scheme

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was paid in legal aid fees to (a) Mr Mohammed Tayyab Khan and (b) Mr Dean Kershaw; and what the total amount paid in legal aid fees was arising from the case of Crown v Ali and Others held at Stafford Crown Court between May and September 2011.

Jeremy Wright: The information is not readily available. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as the information has been collated by the Legal Aid Agency.

Legal Aid Scheme

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what (a) proportion and (b) amount of his Department's criminal legal aid budget was allocated to high value cases in each of the last three years;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a breakdown of how his Department's criminal legal aid budget has been spent in each of the last three years;
	(3)  what amount his Department spent in each of the last three years on legal cases involving bank fraud.

Jeremy Wright: At £2 billion a year we have one of the most expensive legal aid systems in the world and must ensure we get best value for every penny of taxpayers' money spent. We have recently finished consulting on a number of proposals to reform legal aid and are now carefully examining all the responses.
	Very High Cost Cases are defined by the Legal Aid Agency as those cases in which a legal aid representation order has been granted on or after 3 October 2011 and, if the case were to proceed to trial, would likely last more than 60 days. There is no separate budget within the overall legal aid forecast for such cases, and as such the information requested is not held.
	A breakdown of spending on both civil and criminal legal aid is contained in the Legal Services Commission (now Legal Aid Agency) Annual Report. Each year the Ministry of Justice lays this Annual Report in Parliament ahead of publication, meaning it is available to all Members. The 2012-13 Legal Services Commission Annual Report was laid in Parliament on 25 June.
	Information on the amount of legal aid spending in cases involving bank fraud is not available. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) funds legal services within broad categories of law, such as public law and immigration and asylum. Legal aid spending on bank fraud cannot be disaggregated from other spending on fraud matters. The amount spent on fraud matters in each of the last three years was:
	
		
			  Fraud matters costs (£ million) 
			 2009-10 224.84 
			 2010-11 213.82 
			 2011-12 224.22 
		
	
	
		
			 Notes: 1. The above costs include VAT and disbursements. 2. These include crime lower claims, crime higher—Litigator Graduated Fee Scheme, Advocate Graduated Fee Scheme and Very High Cost Case bills paid, as well as the costs paid by Her Majesty's' Courts and Tribunals Services on Crown Court cases. 3. They exclude costs paid by the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, House of Lords and Senior Courts Costs Office.

Legal Aid Scheme: Travellers

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much funding the Legal Services Commission has provided for Travellers to provide representation at (a) planning inquiries and (b) court cases on planning in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much funding has been provided to Travellers under the exceptional funding scheme relating to planning issues in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how much funding has been provided through the Legal Services Commission to the Community Law Partnership for the provision of legal advice for Travellers on planning in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The Legal Aid Agency (former Legal Services Commission) is unable to say how much funding has been provided for Travellers under the exceptional funding scheme or for representation at planning inquiries and court cases on planning, because it does not hold information to indicate whether clients in such cases belong to particular ethnic groups.
	The Community Law Partnership is contracted with the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) to provide face-to-face and telephone advice. In face-to-face advice, the LAA does not record travellers separately. In telephone advice, it is not possible to distinguish the costs relating to planning from other costs associated with housing matters.

Legal Aid Scheme: Travellers

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether Travellers (a) facing planning enforcement cases and (b) applying for retrospective planning permission, are eligible for legal aid; and what his policy is on using money from the public purse to assist Travellers in challenging planning enforcement decisions of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Jeremy Wright: Under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, civil legal aid is not generally available for planning matters—including retrospective planning permission. Where an individual faces eviction from their home (including the land on which the home is located) legal aid is generally available (subject to means and merits) in relation to that matter. However, where the individual is a trespasser, legal aid is not available in relation to eviction.

Legal Aid Scheme: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the cost was of legal aid in North Wales in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many legal firms have participated in the legal aid system in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many people qualified for legal aid in North Wales in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) holds information in relation to the total cost of legal and number of acts of assistance provided in North Wales (as defined by LAA procurement area boundaries) and the number of legal aid offices in England and Wales for each of the past five financial years.
	The information requested is detailed in the tables:
	
		
			 Legal aid in North Wales 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Costs paid in £ million 5.95 6.67 6.04 6.86 6.83 
			 Number of acts of assistance 22,197 24,383 25,352 23,435 22,538 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of offices in England and Wales 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Civil contracts 3,627 3,585 3,206 3,394 2,988 
			 Crime contracts 2,230 2,245 2,137 2,418 2,309 
		
	
	Please note:
	The costs include VAT and disbursements such as expenses, third party costs, and costs paid by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Services (HMCTS) on crown court cases.
	The information does not include costs paid by the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, House of Lords, and Senior Court Costs Office. Solicitor advocates are treated as Barristers and costs paid to them are not included as part of the firm.
	The LAA does not record the number of people who qualified for legal aid. Instead it records the number of ‘acts of assistance'. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person.
	A solicitor office may hold both a civil and a criminal contract and the aggregate of civil and criminal offices does not reflect the total number of providers.

Legal Costs

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much his Department spent on (a) external legal advice from Queen's Counsel and (b) other external legal advice (i) between 7 May 2010 and 4 September 2012 and (ii) since 4 September 2012;
	(2)  what the 20 highest amounts paid for external legal advice by his Department were in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; to whom such payments were made; and for what reasons such legal advice was sought;
	(3)  how much his Department spent on external legal advice (a) between 7 May 2010 and 4 September 2012 and (b) since 4 September 2012;
	(4)  what the highest day rate paid for external legal advice by his Department was since 7 May 2010;
	(5)  what the 20 highest amounts paid for external legal advice by his Department were in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; to whom such sums were paid; and for what reasons the legal advice was sought.

Jeremy Wright: The information I am providing covers external legal spend by the Ministry of Justice and its Executive Agencies (Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, and the National Offender Management Service). It does not cover spend on external legal advice by the Department's arm’s length bodies.
	In answering the questions I have assumed that external legal spend in this context means spend on legal advice given to the Department other than by the Ministry of Justice Legal Directorate or the Treasury Solicitor's Department. The Treasury Solicitor's Department conducts the majority of the litigation for the Department and therefore the majority of spend on litigation is not reflected in the following figures.
	The information I can provide is:
	a. Ql. 154137
	Breakdown of external legal spend by counsel and other suppliers for 2012-13 FY:
	
		
			 Supplier Spend (£) 
			 Counsel 109,804.72 
			 Other external supplier 3,693,175.21 
		
	
	Counsel here means all counsel and not just Queen's Counsel. This is because the supplier information on our accounts systems does not always specify if a particular barrister is a Queen's Counsel or not, and because in some cases the Chambers rather than the individual barrister is recorded. The figure only includes Counsel instructed directly by the Department rather than through the Treasury Solicitor's Department. Please refer to the information supplied in relation to Q.3 for the total external spend for the 2012-13 FY.
	It is not possible to provide this information for other financial years because the way in which the Department recorded legal spend in previous years did not breakdown the data in this manner. To ascertain the breakdown for previous financial years would incur disproportionate cost as it would require examining a substantial number of financial records spanning several years.
	b. Q.2 154138/158633
	The accounts systems and the manner in which the Department is invoiced for external legal advice means that it is not possible to identify the 20 highest amounts paid for advice, by whom, and for what reason the advice was sought in each of the years requested. Additionally, the information is recorded by supplier and not by matter. The only way to identify some of this information would be to examine and cross-reference a substantial number of individual invoices spanning several years. This would incur disproportionate cost for the Department and I am therefore unable to answer this question. Furthermore, to provide details on why advice was sought from external legal suppliers could raise issues of legal privilege.
	c. Q.3 154139
	Total external legal spend by the Ministry of Justice, HMCTS and NOMS by financial year:
	
		
			 Financial year Total external legal spend (£) 
			 2010-11 4,501,861.00 
			 2011-12 3,260,958.00 
			 2012-13 3,802,979.93 
		
	
	d. Q.4 154140
	As with Q.2 above, the accounts systems and the manner in which the Department is invoiced for external legal advice means that it is not possible to identify the highest day rate paid between 7 May 2010 and 4 September 2012, and from 4 September 2012 onward. The only way this information might be available would be to examine a substantial number of individual invoices spanning several years. This would incur disproportionate cost for the Department and I am therefore unable to answer this question.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison staff were dismissed for conducting inappropriate relationships with prisoners in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The definition of an inappropriate relationship is any relationship with prisoners, ex prisoners, partners, immediate family or close associates involved in criminal activities if not formally declared to the governor or head of NOMS unit as a potential ‘Conflict of Interest'. The information setting out how many prison staff were dismissed solely for having an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner(s)(1) is set out in the table:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010 10 
			 2011 9 
			 2012 9 
		
	
	It should be noted that all corrupt activity contains an element of inappropriate relationships with prisoners, and is usually a precursor to such activity and so numbers will be greater for those who were dismissed for having been involved in an inappropriate relationship and which also contained another element of corruption, such as the conveying of mobile phones which would be an offence under the Offender Management Act.
	Corruption in the Prison Service is not acceptable and will be sought out and prevented. This Government are committed to ensuring that the agencies remain free from corruption and that those who do commit illegal acts are dealt with swiftly and reported to the prosecuting authorities.
	(1) The information provided has been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Prisoner Escapes

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prisoners who escaped during transit in the last five years are still to be recaptured; and of what offence each escapee had been convicted;
	(2)  how many escapes there were during prisoner transit in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number of escapes that have occurred while prisoners are in transit between 2007-08 and 2011-12, the most recent period for which data are available. The table includes escorts conducted by contractors under the Prison Escort and Custody Services contract and HM Prison Service staff.
	All prisoners who escaped in transit between 2007-08 and 2011-12 have subsequently been recaptured.
	The total number of escapes from custody has been falling since 1995 when central records began, despite an increasing prison population. The majority of escorts take place without incident; escapes involving outside assistance, particularly armed assistance, are extremely rare.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of prisoners escaping while in transit, by financial year, between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2012 
			  Number of escapes 
			 2007-08 1 
			 2008-09 3 
			 2009-10 2 
			 2010-11 1 
			 2011-12 7 
			 Note: These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. 
		
	
	The Ministry of Justice is currently taking action to reduce the risk of escape further, particularly the risk of escape from escort. However, this risk remains low with only one escape from escort contractors for every 72,510 prisoners passing through Prisoner Escort Custody Services custody.

Prisons: Corruption

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what training is expected of employees in HM Prison Service in dealing with corruption (a) on commencing their employment and (b) on an ongoing basis as part of continuing professional development.

Jeremy Wright: Corruption in the Prison Service is not acceptable and will be sought out and prevented. This Government are committed to ensuring that the agencies remain free from corruption and that those who do commit illegal acts are dealt with swiftly and reported to the prosecuting authorities.
	Corruption ‘prevention’ activity and the raising of awareness amongst staff remains at the heart of the NOMS corruption prevention strategy. (a) All new officers and operational support grades receive training in (1) Expected Standards of Behaviour and (2) Conditioning, Manipulation and Corruption Prevention awareness. (b) For all new and current staff within an establishment training is conducted on an ongoing basis and is promoted at a local, regional and national level. During 2011 a new DVD/training package covering conditioning and manipulation and the risks of engaging inappropriate relationships was rolled out to all public sector prisons. In April 2012 it was rolled out to contracted prisons.

Prisons: Employment

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2013, Official Report, column 22W, on prisons: employment, what proportion of prisoners who have participated in the One3One programme have entered into (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment upon release from prison in the last 12 months.

Jeremy Wright: This information is not held by the Department. The work in prison policy ensures that prisoners are employed purposefully when in prison and we believe there are advantages in work in prison in preparing prisoners for employment following release. The Government's plans for new resettlement prisons will help ex-offenders back into employment after release by providing rehabilitative services in prison and a tailored package of supervision and support in the community.
	Figures for 2011-12 show that 26.6 % of prisoners were released from prison into employment, as published in the National Offender Management Service Annual Report 2011/12: Management Information Addendum(1). The figures for 2012-13 are scheduled for publication on 25 July. In addition, from March 2012 all prisoners eligible for jobseeker’s allowance and who have claimed in advance of, or in the 13 weeks following release, have been mandated onto the DWP work programme.
	(1) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment _data/file/163292/noms-annual-report-2011-12-addendum.pdf.pdf

RSPCA

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much legal aid the RSPCA claimed in (a) the five years prior to 2010 and (b) in each year since.

Jeremy Wright: The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has not provided any legal aid funding to the RSPCA in the period in question.

PRIME MINISTER

Ian Livingston

Ann McKechin: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what (a) assessment and (b) recommendations the Adviser on Ministers' Interests has made on the scale of shareholdings in British Telecom held by Ian Livingston;
	(2)  what (a) oral and (b) written discussions he has had with the Independent Adviser on Minister's Interests on the appointment of Ian Livingston as Minister for Trade.

David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) on 4 July 2013, Official Report, column 733W.

Kazakhstan

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Prime Minister what human rights issues were raised during his visit to Kazakhstan; and if he will make a statement.

David Cameron: The UK has a range of interests in Kazakhstan covering prosperity, security and values, and is looking to secure a step-change in its bilateral relations. The Strategic Partnership that I signed during my visit sets out important areas of mutual interest, including the promotion of democracy and human rights, and provides a structure to make progress.
	We have a strong record of funding human rights projects and raising issues of concern with the Kazakh Government, and I discussed these issues with the President.

Pakistan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister what matters in respect of Pakistan's continued possession of nuclear weapons he discussed with his Pakistani counterpart during his recent visit to Pakistan.

David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made in the House on Afghanistan and EU Council on 2 July 2013, Official Report, columns 751-53, where I set out my discussions with Prime Minister Sharif of Pakistan.

SCOTLAND

Public Expenditure

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he received from the Scottish Government on the spending review.

Michael Moore: Scotland Office Ministers have received no representations from the Scottish Government on the spending review.

TRANSPORT

Aviation: Greater London

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether the funding announced in the 2013 Spending Round to improve air links to London will be available to all regional airports;
	(2)  whether the funding announced in the 2013 Spending Round to improve air links to London will be used to restore links that no longer operate;
	(3)  what proportion of matched funding must be provided as a condition of accessing the funding announced to improve air links to London;
	(4)  what criteria he will use to assess bids by regional airports for funding announced in the 2013 Spending Round to improve air links to London.

Simon Burns: The importance of regional air connectivity to London airports is recognised in the Aviation Policy Framework (APF), which confirms that the Government would be inclined to support proposals by devolved and regional bodies to establish Public Service Obligations (PSOs) that comply with the specific conditions within EU law (Regulation 1008/2008), where necessary to protect services between other UK airports and London.
	The APF states that regional bodies (e.g. devolved Administrations, local authorities and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs)) will continue to be responsible for developing the business, financial and legal cases required by—the regulation on PSOs, and for demonstrating the importance of particular air services to the economic development of areas of the UK. Where the case for a PSO has been made the Government will agree, subject to periodic review, the appropriate level of support we will provide alongside regional support.

Cycling: Training

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding has been allocated to Bikeability cycle training as a result of decisions announced in spending round 2013, Cm 8639.

Norman Baker: The Department needs time to determine the implications of the recent Spending Round and will set out more details in due course. However we are working to ensure the best result possible.

Driving Offences: Speed Limits

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speeding offences have been committed in (a) Barnsley Central constituency and (b) South Yorkshire in each year since 2010.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold this information. South Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, which includes the police, are responsible for the collection of this data.

Driving: Licensing

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish the Green Paper on graduated licensing for young drivers as announced in March 2013.

Stephen Hammond: We intend to publish the Green Paper later in the year.

Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent research he has conducted into the volumes of freight moved (a) to and (b) from container ports in the UK by (i) road and (ii) rail in each of the last 10 years.

Stephen Hammond: We have not undertaken such research and the information requested is not held centrally.
	However, as part of its long-term planning process, Network Rail recently published a draft Freight Market Study for consultation. This is available at
	www.networkrail.co.uk/improvements/planning-policies-and-plans/long-term-planning-process/market-studies/freight/
	It gives an indication of the growth in ports and domestic intermodal container traffic carried by rail from 1998-2011.

Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to increase multi-modal freight capacity in the UK port sector.

Stephen Hammond: The ports sector has, through commercial investment in co-operation with Network Rail and other transport providers, ensured that major ports are generally well equipped to make good use of rail and coastal shipping where these are viable alternatives to road transport.
	The Government continues to encourage rail freight at ports, and coastal shipping, through appropriate incentives.

Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions his Department has had with Network Rail regarding freight capacity at UK ports.

Simon Burns: This is an operational matter for Network Rail in collaboration with the port authorities and the freight train operating companies. Network Rail and the freight operators work closely with the ports to provide appropriate and adequate rail connectivity.

Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of (a) passenger and (b) freight services shifted from road to rail in each year since 1993-94.

Simon Burns: The Department does not have information on modal shifts.
	However, the statistics published in table TSGB0101 at the following link show the proportion of passenger kilometres by mode of transport since 1952:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/tsgb01-modal-comparisons
	Table TSGB0401 at the following link shows domestic freight transport by mode since 1953:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/tsgb04-freight

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what amount HS2 Ltd and his Department have spent on outside bodies promoting High Speed 2, by contractor company. [R]

Simon Burns: HS2 Ltd and the Department have used two contractors in promoting HS2:
	By HS2 Ltd
	Westbourne Communications Ltd—£80,304.00
	Tomboy Films UK Ltd—£86,043.60
	By DFT
	Westbourne Communications Ltd—£23,952.00
	In addition to the figures above, HS2 Ltd currently have two staff from Westbourne on secondment, specifically working on the promotion of HS2. Costs for these secondments paid to Westbourne to end June are £84,480 and fall to HS2 Ltd's communications professional services budget.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will instruct High Speed 2 Ltd to carry out a feasibility study of Option 8 at Euston station;
	(2)  when he became aware that High Speed 2 Ltd has not carried out a feasibility study of Option 8 at Euston station.

Simon Burns: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport was advised in December 2012 that a revised design, originally termed Option 8, was being progressed by HS2 Ltd for Euston station that would deliver the required functionality with less disruption and at a lower cost. The Department for Transport is currently consulting on a range of design refinements for Phase 1 of HS2, including the design of Euston station. Once the consultation closes on 11 July, the Government will then fully consider the responses before deciding on whether to proceed with the proposed revision to the design of Euston station.

Network Rail

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to enable Network Rail to be considered a public body for the purposes of auditing by the National Audit Office;
	(2)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that Network Rail is audited by the National Audit Office; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what plans his Department has to make Network Rail subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: Network Rail is a private sector company limited by guarantee, as determined by the Office for National Statistics in line with internationally accepted standards. The company's activities are governed by the regulatory regime provided by the Railways Act 1993 as amended.
	It is right that the National Audit Office and Parliament should hold the Department for Transport to account for the way that public money is used to secure public services.
	However, we see no benefit in duplicating, through the National Audit Office, the Network Rail scrutiny and oversight responsibilities that Parliament has vested in the independent Office of Rail Regulation through legislation.

Network Rail

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to improve the level of public scrutiny on the performance of Network Rail.

Simon Burns: The independent Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has a wide range of powers for scrutinising and enforcing Network Rail's performance of its obligations. The Department for Transport is working closely with ORR to improve the quality, transparency and availability of information about both Network Rail and train operators' performance and efficiency, so as to bear down on industry performance and costs and give rail users the tools to hold the industry to account.

Railways: Freight

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect that the introduction of Network Rail's new track access charges for freight operating companies will have on annual rail freight volumes from and to UK ports;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect that Network Rail's introduction of track access charges for freight operating companies will have on annual volumes of freight carried by (a) rail and (b) road.

Simon Burns: The framework for Network Rail's track access charges is established by the independent rail regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), having regard to the Government's objectives for the continuing development of a competitive, efficient and dynamic private sector rail freight industry. Within that framework, the level of the charges is a matter for Network Rail. It is for both bodies to assess the impact of their proposals, on the basis of consultation with the industry and wider interests.

Shipping

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has conducted into (a) training and (b) employment incentives for domestic seafarers that currently apply in other EU countries.

Stephen Hammond: No specific research was carried out. However, in 2011 the Department commissioned an independent review of the economic requirement for trained seafarers in the UK. Its final report is on the Government website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3540/economic-requirement-report.pdf
	and includes comparisons of the training regimes in the United Kingdom, Holland and Denmark.

Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the core training commitment is for each company group elected to the Tonnage Tax scheme in 2013-14 to date; how many officer training places this converts to; and whether any company groups intend to observe the scheme's voluntary link to provide training for UK ratings.

Stephen Hammond: The tonnage tax training requirement is monitored on the basis of training commitment years, which run from October to September, rather than on a financial year basis. Figures for the 2013-14 training commitment year are not yet available. The identity of tonnage tax companies and groups is tax confidential, and I am therefore unable to provide information in respect of individual companies and groups.
	Approved core training commitments for the 2012-13 training commitment year are for around 600 new first year officer trainees. Additionally, company groups are required to provide second and third year training for trainees taken on during the previous two years when they were in the tonnage tax. The cumulative training commitment for 2012-13 is therefore around 1,800 officer trainees. The tonnage tax scheme imposes no numeric requirement in relation to UK ratings' training, but training has so far been provided for around 20 ratings to officer conversion trainees in 2012-13.

Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has conducted into tonnage tax levels that currently apply in other EU countries.

Stephen Hammond: No specific research has been carried out. However, the Government are aware of the tax rates which operate in comparable tonnage tax schemes in other EU countries.

Travel

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officials in his Department (a) are working on cycling and active travel issues and (b) are projected to be so working in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.

Norman Baker: Currently, 9.9 full-time equivalent officials are allocated to roles directly related to cycling and active travel. However, many other officials are involved in cycling and active travel in the Department in related policy areas and in specialist disciplines.
	No changes in staff levels are currently planned in 2014-15 and 2015-16. However, the Department regularly reviews its resource allocation through corporate planning to align resources with our business plan objectives.

TREASURY

Banks: Foreign Workers

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many jobs in banks with a full or majority stake held by the Government have been outsourced overseas since 2008;
	(2)  what the policy of UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) is on the practice of overseas outsourcing of jobs by those financial institutions in which UKFI has a stake.

Sajid Javid: The Government's shareholdings in Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are managed on a commercial and arm's length basis by UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI).
	UKFI's role is to manage the stakes and not to manage the banks.
	Decisions on staffing are operational decisions and are for the banks themselves. The Government are therefore unable to comment on this matter.

Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  when the Government plans to publish the response to the consultation on Alcohol Fraud: legislative measures to tackle existing and emerging threats to the UK alcohol duty regime;
	(2)  what legislative proposals the Government plans to bring forward to tackle alcohol duty fraud;
	(3)  if he will publish each response received to the consultation on Alcohol Fraud: legislative measures to tackle existing and emerging threats to the UK alcohol duty regime.

Sajid Javid: The Government intends to publish a summary of the responses received to the 2012 consultation on alcohol fraud, and announce what action it intends to take to address fraud, in the near future.

Fracking

Mark Menzies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that any community benefit revenue that is derived from shale gas is apportioned to people living in the immediate vicinity of well sites.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The industry trade body UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) published a Community Engagement Charter on 27 June setting out their commitments on engagement with communities that host shale gas developments.
	This also sets their proposals on how communities will benefit directly from developments in their areas and commits to provide a share of proceeds at production stage of 1% of revenues. Further, as part of this commitment they have stated that approximately two thirds of this benefit will be allocated to the local community; the rest will be allocated at county level.
	UKOOG will provide further detail on fund allocation later in the year and will be working with interested parties and councils over the course of the next few months to finalise plans.

Fracking

Mark Menzies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his policy to provide a gold standard of regulation on shale gas operations before any potential move to the extraction phase.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
	The UK has a strong regulatory system which provides a comprehensive and fit for purpose regime for shale gas exploration, but we want continuously to improve it. The Office of Unconventional Gas and Oil works closely with the regulators and industry to ensure that the regulatory system applied to potential shale gas production is as streamlined as possible, while remaining robust enough to safeguard public safety and protect the environment.

Minimum Wage

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many unannounced minimum wage inspections were carried out by HM Revenue and Customs on companies located in (a) Newcastle Upon Tyne North constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many notices of minimum wage underpayments were issued by HM Revenue and Customs to companies located in (a) Newcastle Upon Tyne North constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England in each of the last five years; and how many such companies (i) paid within 14 days, (ii) paid within 28 days and (iii) took their case to appeal;
	(3)  how many complaints regarding minimum wage non-compliance were received by HM Revenue and Customs regarding companies located in (a) Newcastle Upon Tyne North constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England in each of the last five years; and what proportion of these complaints resulted in prosecutions.

David Gauke: HMRC does not keep statistics related to the number of unannounced inspections carried out.
	HMRC does not keep statistics at constituency level and, since April 2011, no longer captures complaints or the outcomes of its investigations by reference to government regions or country.
	As a consequence of the way in which contact information for employers is recorded, HMRC is not able to produce exact statistics relating to companies located in England.
	The data in the table relate to notice of underpayments by compliance teams based in England. Please note that Notices of Underpayment were not introduced until April 2009.
	
		
			 Financial year Notice of Underpayment issued Paid within 14 days Appeals received 
			 2009-10 352 175 6 
			 2010-11 877 494 32 
			 2011-12 705 426 24 
			 2012-13 540 340 13 
		
	
	HMRC does not record the timescale in which the employer pays arrears to workers. HMRC does, however, record where an employer is entitled to pay a reduced penalty charge by paying arrears to workers and the reduced penalty charge to HMRC within 14 days.
	The data in the following table relate to complaint cases allocated to compliance teams based in England for the period requested.
	
		
			 Financial year Complaint cases Prosecutions 
			 2008-09 1,922 4 
			 2009-10 2,264 0 
			 2010-11 1,734 1 
			 2011-12 1,345 0 
			 2012-13 1,114 1

Minimum Wage

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many allegations of non-compliance with national minimum wage legislation in (a) total, (b) each region of the UK and (c) the London borough of Harrow were received by HM Revenue and Customs in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: HMRC does not keep statistics at constituency level and since April 2011 does not collate information relating to complaints about non-payment of the minimum wage by government region. I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 4 February 2013, Official Report , column 18W, for the total number of complaints received in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The total number of complaints received in 2012-13 was 1,408. The table provides a breakdown by region for 2010-11.
	
		
			 Government region Number of complaints 
			 Scotland 128 
			 Wales 86 
			 London 334 
			 North East 92 
			 Northern Ireland 32 
			 West Midlands 167 
			 Merseyside 22 
			 Yorks/Humberside 186 
			 North West 231 
			 East Midlands 103 
			 East 218 
			 South East 250 
			 South West 132

New Enterprise Allowance: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of businesses in Barnsley Central constituency who will receive the £2,000 enterprise allowance.

David Gauke: Constituency level estimates of those likely to benefit from the employment allowance are not available. In total, up to 1.25 million employers will benefit from the allowance, with over 90% of this benefit going to small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward a stamp duty rebate for homes participating in the Green Deal.

Sajid Javid: Following the Chancellor's announcement of £200 million additional capital to encourage uptake of Green Deal in 2011 autumn statement, the Government are using £125 million of this to fund a generous Cashback scheme to be claimed by those who take up Green Deal from January 2013.
	Other uses of the additional capital include £12 million of funding that has been allocated to seven cities across England to help pilot Green Deal in their regions.
	The Government do not have any plans to introduce a SDLT relief for homes participating in the Green Deal.
	However stamp duty land tax policy, like that of all taxes, is kept under review through the normal Budget process.

Ulster Bank

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of his Department's staff at each level have been transferred to Belfast to work on issues related to the operation of Ulster Bank.

Sajid Javid: holding answer 1 July 2013
	The Government's shareholdings are managed on an arm's length, commercial basis by UK Financial Investments. It would not be appropriate for the Treasury staff to be involved in RBS' or Ulster Bank's operational issues.
	Ulster Bank remains an important part of core RBS and a major lender in Northern Ireland. It is in the UK's interest that Ireland has a successful economy and a stable banking system.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Atos Healthcare

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Atos assessment centres there are in the UK; and how many have disabled parking facilities.

Esther McVey: Atos undertakes work capability assessments (WCAs) and, in some parts of the UK, personal independence payment (PIP) assessments on behalf of the Department. For WCAs, there are 123 permanent Atos assessment centre locations and 68 have disabled parking facilities.
	Atos' delivery model for PIP assessments is different to that for WCAs as it utilises the premises of supply chain partners already established in the health care sector such as private physiotherapy practices and hospitals. Atos are contractually required to provide accommodation for face-to-face consultations which meets the Department's standards including access to suitable parking. Atos has up to 189 sites which it can currently use and will make more sites available as volumes of PIP assessments rise.

Children: Poverty

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of children in the UK living in poverty; and what steps the Government are taking to substantially reduce child poverty in the near future.

Esther McVey: The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets four income-based UK-wide targets to be met by 2020. The targets are based on the proportion of children living in households with relative low income, combined low income and material deprivation, absolute low income and persistent poverty (all before housing costs have been taken into account). Estimates of these are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household income adjusted (or ‘equivalised') for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living.
	UK figures for relative and absolute low income and combined low income and material deprivation for 2011/12 and persistent poverty for 2005-08 can be found in the latest HBAI publication, available at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/households-below-average-income-hbai-199495-to-201112
	Relevant figures can be found in Table 4.1tr (on page 102) for the latest relative low income figures, table 4.2tr (on page 103) for the latest absolute low income figures and table 4.5tr (on page 106) for the latest combined low income and material deprivation figures. The latest persistent poverty estimates can be found in table 7.1 tr (on page 248).
	The evidence consistently shows that the best routes out of poverty are through parents being in work and through a child's educational achievement which can stop a poor child becoming a poor adult.
	We are introducing the universal credit which will reduce child poverty through making work pay and providing an effective route out of poverty. Universal credit will improve work incentives by allowing individuals to keep more of their income as they move into work, and by introducing a smoother and more transparent reduction of benefits when they increase their earnings. Universal credit will also reduce child poverty by re-focusing of entitlements on lower income in-work households and having a simpler system that should lead to a considerable increase in the take-up compared to the current complex system of benefits and tax credits.
	We are also firmly committed to giving poor children the best opportunities in life to help break the poverty cycle so they do not go on to become poor adults. Targeting education as a route out of poverty, we are investing £2.5 billion in the pupil premium to raise educational attainment of poor children, as well as 260,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds receiving 15 hours a week of free early years education.
	We want to develop better measures of child poverty which include but go beyond income to provide a more accurate picture of the reality of child poverty and drive the right action. Our consultation on how best to measure child poverty closed on 15 February. The complexity of the issue means that we need to take time to ensure we have the best option for measuring child poverty, so that we can ensure we properly tackle the causes. We will publish our response as soon as we can.

Employment and Support Allowance

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how often people with (a) rheumatoid arthritis, (b) cystic fibrosis and (c) multiple sclerosis were reassessed for employment and support allowance.

Mark Hoban: Claimants with these health conditions do not have pre-determined intervals for reassessment.
	Everyone who claims employment and support allowance (ESA) will undergo periodic work capability assessments (WCAs) to ascertain whether they still meet the conditions for the benefit. This is because entitlement to ESA is based on an individual's functional ability rather than the condition itself. Individuals with lifetime impairments may be able to adapt to those conditions and take up some work. So it is important we can provide them with the right support to get back to work when it is appropriate.
	A claimant for whom a return to work is considered unlikely within two years will be reassessed after two years. This is because, even for claimants who are unlikely to see an improvement in their health and who are unlikely to sufficiently adapt to their condition, it is important that we do not write them off completely. However, this reassessment will not necessarily involve a face-to-face assessment—where possible, the Department may make a decision using paper-based evidence.
	The WCA is an assessment of someone's functional capability, not just their condition. A disability or health condition will affect different people in different ways therefore it is important to treat people as individuals and assess their capability for work, rather than labelling them because of their condition.

Employment and Support Allowance

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people assessed by ESA50 without a face-to-face interview were placed into the (a) support group and (b) work-related activity group in each month from 1 July 2012.

Mark Hoban: This information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of employment and support allowance claimants in the work-related activity group are in employment 12 to 18 months after their claim;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of employment and support allowance claimants found fit for work are in employment 12 to 18 months after their claim;
	(3)  how many and what proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants are in employment 12 to 18 months after their claim.

Mark Hoban: Detailed information on the long term destinations of employment and support allowance (ESA) and jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of employment and support allowance claimants found fit for work flow on to jobseeker's allowance.

Mark Hoban: It is not currently possible to provide information on the number of people found fit for work moving from employment support allowance (ESA) to jobseeker's allowance (JSA) and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has made to the European Union Employment Commissioner on the Commission's current review of health and safety policy; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The Commission plans to review the entire suite of occupational health and safety Directives by 2015. Member states must submit by December 2013 reports on how they have practically implemented these directives. HSE is currently preparing the UK's report. The Government will continue to argue through the review that EU legislation should be risk based and proportionate, and that burdens on business should be reduced where possible, without reducing necessary protections.

Industrial Health and Safety

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research his Department has commissioned since May 2010 on making workplaces safer; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: HSE has a statutory duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to conduct research and publish the results. Since 2010 the focus of current research is devoted to occupational health, mainly in the area of long latency health risks. Other research covers major hazard and specialised industries and economic and statistical research. Further details can be found on the HSE website at:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/content/science-plan-2012-15.pdf
	The annual science report to the HSE Board examines how HSE uses, publishes and evaluates its commissioned research. Further details can be found on the HSE website at:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hseboard/2013/300113/pjanb1308.pdf

Industrial Health and Safety: Construction

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many fatal accidents occurred in the construction sector in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of the people who were killed were (a) self-employed, (b) employed by firms with fewer than 10 employees and (c) employed by firms with fewer than 50 employees.

Mark Hoban: The figures for fatal accidents within the construction sector are provided in Table 1, by employment status, including (a) the self-employed. These represent the latest annual figures as published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 3 July 2013.
	The figures are not available broken down by (b) employed by firms with fewer than 10 employees and (c) employed by firms with fewer than 50 employees as, due to the often complex employment structures and the transient nature of construction work, HSE is not able to routinely record information on the precise size of these firms.
	
		
			 Table 1: Fatal injuries to workers in the construction industry(1) as reported to all enforcing authorities 2012-13(2) 
			 Great Britain Number 
			 Employees 27 
			 Self-employed 12 
			 Total workers(3) 39 
			 Members of the public 5 
			 Total 44 
			 (1) Statistics are identified by Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC2007) Section F—Construction. (2) Provisional. (3) The term ‘worker' covers employees and self-employed combined.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on exemptions to the new jobseeker's allowance seven-day waiting rule; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: Detailed policies on this measure are yet to be decided. However current rules exempt claimants from serving waiting days where they have returned to jobseeker's allowance within 12 weeks of the end of a previous claim to jobseeker's allowance or a previous claim to another benefit, for example employment and support allowance. Young people who receive jobseeker's allowance under severe hardship provisions are also exempt. It is likely that these exemptions will be carried forward to the new, extended seven-day waiting rule.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department plans to issue to staff in Jobcentre Plus on advice they can give to unemployed people who are in financial difficulties and are in the seven-day waiting period for jobseeker's allowance on assistance they can access.

Mark Hoban: Subject to parliamentary approval, any changes to the waiting day period will be supported through appropriate guidance being issued to Department for Work and Pensions staff.

Occupational Health

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reduce occupational ill-health.

Esther McVey: Fitness for work: the Government response to ‘Health at work—an independent review of sickness absence' was published in January 2013. It outlined a range of measures to support people with ill-health to remain in and return to work including a new health and work assessment and advisory service which will make occupational health expertise more widely available to GPs, and those employees and employers who need it most.

Social Security Benefits

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the effect of changes to working-age benefits on household income.

Mark Hoban: The Department regularly produces assessments and analysis of the impacts of new policies, which can be found at the Department's website, and keeps these up to date if impacts change.
	The Government regularly produce analysis of the cumulative impact of all coalition changes, including working-age benefits, on households across the income distribution. This information is published at every Budget and other major fiscal events, in the interests of transparency. The most recent update was published with the spending round 2013 on 26 June.
	The publication of cumulative impacts is a coalition initiative and was not produced by the previous Administration.

Vacancies: Internet

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many vacancies have been posted in Universal Jobmatch since its inception, by occupation.

Mark Hoban: The number of new job vacancies, by occupation, posted in Universal Jobmatch between its inception on 19 November 2012 and 30 April 2013 is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			 Employer sector Job vacancies 
			 Accounting and auditing services 5,814 
			 Advertising and PR services 11,473 
			 Aerospace and defence 2,155 
			 Agriculture/forestry/fishing 1,739 
			 All 5,410 
			 Architectural and design services 523 
			 Automotive and parts manufacturing 682 
			 Automotive sales and repair services 10,882 
			 Banking 2,280 
			 Biotechnology/pharmaceuticals 528 
			 Broadcasting, music and film 749 
			 Business services—Other 60,121 
			 Chemicals/petro-chemicals 563 
			 Computer hardware 241 
			 Computer software 916 
			 Computer/IT services 3,262 
			 Construction—Industrial facilities and infrastructure 8,783 
			 Construction—Residential and commercial/office 19,756 
			 Education 34,023 
			 Electronics, components, and semiconductor manufacturing 687 
			 Energy and utilities 5,171 
			 Engineering services 4,917 
			 Entertainment venues and theatres 1,064 
			 Financial services 30,081 
			 Food and beverage production 17,654 
			 Government and military 17,670 
			 Health care services 77,811 
			 Hotels and lodging 14,658 
			 Insurance 898 
			 Internet services 1,288 
			 Legal services 2,816 
			 Management consulting services 3,504 
			 Manufacturing—Other 10,487 
			 Marine manufacturing and services 123 
			 Medical devices and supplies 3,849 
			 Metals and minerals 210 
			 Non-profit charitable organisations 8,409 
			 Other/not classified 49,210 
			 Performing and fine arts 322 
			 Personal and household services 18,962 
			 Personal care and cosmetics 2,629 
			 Printing and publishing 1,438 
			 Real estate and property management 7,560 
			 Rental services 2,305 
			 Restaurant/food services 16,546 
			 Retail 66,501 
			 Security and surveillance 10,185 
			 Sports and physical recreation 8,567 
			 Staffing/employment agencies 1,089,023 
			 Telecommunications services 3,639 
		
	
	
		
			 Textile and clothing manufacturing 977 
			 Transport and storage—Materials 8,828 
			 Travel, transportation and tourism 4,096 
			 Waste management 1,866 
			 Wholesale trade/import-export 4,894

Work Capability Assessment

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people with (a) rheumatoid arthritis, (b) cystic fibrosis and (c) multiple sclerosis have undergone multiple work capability assessments since its introduction.

Mark Hoban: The Department regularly publishes official statistics on employment and support allowance (ESA) and the work capability assessment (WCA). The latest publication was released in April 2013 and can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employment-and-support-allowance-work-capability-assessment-april-2013
	Table 6 in the spreadsheet accompanying the publication breaks down how claimants are allocated to the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). This shows that 54% of claimants entering the WRAG after the initial WCA on their claim, did so based on the points awarded at the WCA. The remainder entered the WRAG for reasons other than points awarded at the WCA, these reasons are explained in the publication.
	In response to the first question above, table 1 provides information on the number of claimants who were awarded the WRAG based on points scored at the initial WCA and who were subsequently awarded fewer points at the second WCA on the same claim. Claimants who were awarded the WRAG at the second WCA based on a reason other than points scored have been excluded.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of claimants in the WRAG at the initial WCA who were awarded the WRAG at the second WCA but received points. All new ESA claims starting between October 2008 and August 2012 
			 Health condition Claimants awarded fewer points at second WCA 
			 Cystic Fibrosis — 
			 Multiple Sclerosis 60 
			 Rheumatoid arthritis 90 
			 ‘—' Denotes nil or negligible 
		
	
	Table 2 provides the requested data for the remaining questions above.
	
		
			 Table 2: Comparison of outcomes of the initial and second WCA on the same claim. All new ESA claims starting between October 2008 and August 2012 
			 Health condition Claimants in WRAG after initial WCA who were then found Fit for Work at second WCA on the same claim Claimants in Support Group after initial WCA who then entered the WRAG at second WCA on the same claim Claimants having two or more WCAs on the same claim 
			 Cystic Fibrosis 10 10 220 
		
	
	
		
			 Multiple Sclerosis 100 100 3,560 
			 Rheumatoid arthritis 270 90 2,820 
			 Source: The data presented above come from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, functional assessment data from Atos Healthcare. 
		
	
	All figures relate to claims starting between October 2008 and August 2012, who have completed at least two WCAs on the same claim. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Work Capability Assessment: Appeals

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the cost to his Department of appeals against the work capability assessment in 2012-13.

Mark Hoban: holding answer 13 May 2013
	For the financial year 2012-13, the costs of appeals related to work capability assessment are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 ESA appeals—WCA 15,865,218 
			 IB (IS) reassessment appeals 12,276,418 
		
	
	The unit cost for an ESA appeal is £61.53 and for an IB appeal is £83.77. The overall unit cost is £69.59.
	We are introducing a new mandatory reconsideration process to ensure that claimants receive an explanation of a disputed decision and complete a full re-examination of the decision, while allowing claimants to provide additional evidence and information that they think may change the decision. We hope this process will reduce the number of appeals and, as a result, the cost of such appeals to the Department.

Work Programme

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how the market shift mechanism will operate in Work programme contract package areas where all prime providers have fallen short of the minimum performance standard; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  in which Work programme contract package areas market shift will be taking place as a result of providers' underperformance.

Mark Hoban: holding answer 4 July 2013
	The market share shift mechanism will operate in all contract package areas where there is a gap of three percentage points or more between the higher and lower performing prime providers, provided the higher performer has achieved the required standards in assurance reviews and has achieved accreditation in the Merlin Standard for supply chain management. The mechanism will apply whether or not minimum performance levels have been achieved. This will ensure that there is continued competition to drive up overall performance.

Work Programme

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the criteria are for a Work programme provider to be eligible for market share shift.

Mark Hoban: To be eligible to receive additional referrals the better performing prime provider in a contract package area must have achieved a job outcome rate three percentage points or more higher than the lower performing prime provider in year 2 of the programme, ending March 2013. They must also have achieved a satisfactory rating in their most recent assurance review and in the most recent Merlin Standard assessment of their supply chain management. Assessments of performance and decisions on market share shifts will be applied separately (and only) to the three main payment groups—JSA claimants aged 18-24 , JSA claimants aged 25 and over, and new ESA claimants.